Trawler Frank Bonefaas is ready for years more service. The floating fish factory owned by Scheveningen shipping company Vrolijk has received a major overhaul at Damen Shiprepair Vlissingen. The job took a total of six weeks. On Monday 21 June, the ship set sail again as good as new. DSV looks back on the project with pleasure, says Project Manager Wesley de Marco. The Scheveningen-based client has previously brought his ship to Vlissingen-East. That was in 2012-2013, when the Frank Bonefaas underwent an extensive refit and was fitted with new engines. The onboard fish-processing equipment was also completely renewed at that time.

The trawler Frank Bonefaas as good as new after major maintenance at Damen Shiprepair Vlissingen. The trawler Frank Bonefaas as good as new after major maintenance at Damen Shiprepair Vlissingen.

The trawler came to Vlissingen-East because, among other things, the Vulkan coupling required extensive maintenance. This job would take about five weeks. “That gave us the opportunity to carry out other maintenance on the vessel at the same time,” says the Project Manager. “During the docking in Dock 1, we completely repainted the vessel, making it look radiant again. And the trawler has also been fitted with new sonar equipment, and around fifty valves have been overhauled.”

“The propeller has been polished, which saves on fuel consumption, and we also renewed the propeller shaft seal. An auxiliary engine was removed – this will be replaced by a new one at a later date. Various other minor improvements were also carried out, including steelwork.” According to Wesley, replacing the onboard sonars was the most challenging task. The new sonar equipment was supplied by Radio Holland and then installed by DSV specialists. These sonars are used to track fish at sea.

“It’s always nice to work with ship-owners from the fishing industry. They have a great hands-on mentality that is always solution-oriented." Wesley de Marco

In total, about twenty DSV employees as well as a number of subcontractors worked on the Frank Bonefaas. “The cooperation with Vrolijk was excellent,” says Wesley. “It’s always nice to work with ship-owners from the fishing industry. They have a great hands-on mentality that is always solution-oriented and this suits us well. We are always happy to see Vrolijk, therefore.” With a length of 119 metres, the Frank Bonefaas is one of the largest vessels in the fishing industry. The trawler can freeze and pack hundreds of tonnes of freshly caught fish per week. The ship actively fishes as far away as Africa.

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